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7.13.2017

I wrote about politics and DJing for The Baffler

EARLY IN THE NIGHT, I made nervous jokes about not wanting to DJ a funeral. For one thing, I hadn’t really thought about the possibility of losing—at least not in terms of what it would sound like. Would I play break-up songs? “Shake It Off”? “We Belong Together”? “You Give Love a Bad Name”? Or would I just pack up my equipment and leave, reminded of why I generally stay away from electoral politics?

Thankfully, that’s not what happened. Not long after the polls closed, I found myself providing the score for some next-level remix of Rocky, co-starring the women, queers, and people of color who had coalesced around Philadelphia district attorney candidate Larry Krasner, a thirty-year-long ally who had always walked the walk and who unequivocally tied his campaign, with its slogan “Justice Makes Us Safer,” to local and national movements for social and economic justice.

It was so fucking beautiful. We wanted this. We needed this. I heard it in every cheer, saw it every face, and felt it in every hug. The race had been looking good, but even so, we surprised ourselves. Conventional wisdom said our candidate was unelectable, but here was proof that a politics of dignity for all can win—and win big. On May 16, Krasner garnered more votes than the second and third place finishers combined, and hundreds of people turned up for his election-night party. We packed into the courtyard and community room of the John C. Anderson Apartments, one of the first LGBTQI mixed-income housing projects in the country, to celebrate a historic primary victory that should now, in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans seven to one, set the stage for general election success in November...